Tibetan monks create mandala at TAF

Tibetan Buddhist monks will construct a world peace mandala meant to symbolize unity and compassion.

SATURDAY TO THURSDAY: After about a week of slowly and patiently filling tiny lines with colored sand, the Tibetan Buddhist monks from the Drepung Gomang Monastery in Southern India will deconstruct their work and throw the sand into the Wabash.

It's a lesson in impermanence, said David Raymer, the coordinator at the Tippecanoe Arts Federation. And that's just one of the lessons the monks hope to teach.

The touring group will be constructing a mandala, a circle decorated with sand, at TAF. An opening ceremony will begin at 12:30 p.m. Saturday. Monks will work throughout the week, and visitors are welcome from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday. Deconstruction is set for 4:30 p.m. Thursday.

Tenzin Dekyong, a member of the touring group, said the mandala, which will focus on world peace, is meant to show unity and compassion and to raise funds and awareness for the monastery and Tibet.

"This is a culture we will lose if we don't support the Tibetan way of life and culture," he said.

The group also will lead a special session on butter sculpture at 10 a.m. Tuesday and a meditation session at 7 p.m. Monday at the Unitarian Universalist Church.